Sintering behavior of Cr 2 AlC MAX phase synthesized by Spark plasma sintering

Abstract In the current study, the sintering and mechanical properties of the Cr 2 AlC MAX phase synthesized by Spark plasma sintering at 1000, 1100, and 1200°C were investigated. The X‐ray diffraction (XRD) patterns showed that the synthesis of the Cr 2 AlC MAX phase was associated with the presence of impurities such as Cr 7 C 3 and Al 2 O 3 . On the basis of the FESEM images equipped with energy dispersive spectrometer, the MAX phases had been formed successfully and the length of these layers increased by enhancing the sintering temperature. The results of the density showed that by increasing the temperature, the density increases from 5.10 to 5.33 g/cm 3 and finally decreases to 5.25 g/cm 3 . Vickers hardness method applied to determine the hardness of the samples showed that the hardness decreases from 8.52 to 8.07 GPa for the prepared samples.